How to control Black bug in sugarcane || Crop Reformer
67Black bug (Cavelerius excavates) a sporadic pest just two decades ago but now it has become a regular pest of sugarcane crop in Punjab. This is a sucking insect which feeds on sugarcane hiding in the leaf sheath. Sugarcane fields look yellowish and its symptoms resemble grassy shoot disease. Hundreds of nymphs and adults of black bug congregate in leaf sheaths may affect the crop up to 50% if not addressed well in time. Mainly it affects sugarcane crop during hot and dry months of April to June. It has emerged as a result of climate change in which environmental temperature has raised and monsoon rainfall has mainly limited to north Punjab. It perpetuates through weeds and other unwanted vegetation. Ratoon crop is affected with more severity than plant crop. Its attack has been reported throughout Punjab but late planted fresh crop is also hit by black bug in south Punjab. Sugarcane fields of KPK are not attacked as severely as in Sindh and Punjab.
This insect is not fully addressed by granular pesticides frequently used for sugarcane borers. In this video, we have advised the farmers about how to manage this new emerging pest of sugarcane. It has been advised that sugarcane crop badly affected by black bug and other insects should not be kept as ratoon. Frequent rainfall and irrigation is also one of the remedial measures. In addition to this spray either of Talstar-FMC (bifenthrin) @ 250 ml or Bolton-Swat Agro (gamacyhalothrin+chlorpyrifos)@ 500 ml or Danadim-Swat Agro (dimethoat) @ 500 ml or Jasifax-Jaffer Agros (acephate) @ 330 gram per acre using 100-120 liter of water.
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